Detachable paddings for goggles



Dec. 29, 1959 J MATHESQN 2,918,676

DETACHABLE PADDINGS FOR GOGGLES Filed May 7, I957 4 I INVENTOR.

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United States Patent DETACHABLE PADDIN GS FOR GOGGLES James N. Matheson, Reading, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Electric Storage Battery Company,

Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 7, 1957, Serial No. 657,672

' lClaim. (Cl. 2-14 This invention relates to a pair of industrial protective goggles and, more particularly, to detachable rubber paddings or liners for the goggle cups for providing a more comfortable fit while wearing the goggles.

It is known in the art to provide, as an accessory to a pair of goggles, detachable rubber paddings or liners which fit on the rim portions of the goggle cups and which engage the eye surrounding portions of the wearers face in order to provide greater wearing comfort.

An outstanding disadvantage of conventional rubber paddings for goggles is that in spite of attempts to provide greater comfort of wear by making the rubber of less density, such as of foam rubber, such attempts have still not met with success because after a short while,

, such paddings become uncomfortable to wear and make impressions along the cheeks and eye-surrounding portions of the wearers face.

An object of the present invention is to provide dc tachable novel rubber paddings for goggle cups which are devoid of the above named disadvantages of conventional rubber paddings and which provide an amazing increase in comfort of wear without the necessity of providing a bulky foam rubber liner, also which assure retention without the need for extra attachment components.

Another object of the invention is to provide a highly cushioned rubber padding which is detachably secured to the rim portion of a goggle cup by a mere slip-fit and which is made of such material as to minimize or eliminate slippage from such rim portion in spite of the tendency of the padding to become detached due to its tension and flared shape.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from a study of the following specifi cation taken along with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a rear view of a pair of goggles of the chain bridge type having cushioned liners mounted thereon which embody the principles of my invention.

Figure 2 is a top view of the goggles and paddings or liners shown in Fig. 1, and

, Figure 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line [ll-III of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numerals 1 and 2 denote melded plastic goggle eye cups of hard material, which cups are interconnected by a flexible link, such as a chain bridge covered with a plastic tubing 3 to permit the goggle cups to become self adjusting to the face of the wearer.

The eye cups 1 and 2 are provided with flanged, outwardly flared rims, such as In, extending about the entire perimeter of the mouth portion of the cups and onto which are detachably secured rubber paddings or liners 4 and 5. Such paddings are provided with slots 4d and 5daligned with corresponding slots in the eye cups and through which headband straps 6 and 7, shown in dash outline, are projected and terminate in enlarged front end extremities or stops. Eye cups 1 and 2 are preferably y tions surrounding the eyes of the wearer.

2,918,676 Patented Dec. '29, 1959 "ice providedwith ventilated side portions 8, although in some instances these may be omitted.

Since detachable rubber paddings or liners 4 and 5 are of similar construction, a description of one of them is deemed to suflice.

As shown more clearly in Figure 3, the detachable ring-like padding 4 comprises a molded groove portion defined by sidewalls 4a and 4b, which groove portion closely surrounds and hugs the flanged, outwardly flared rim poriton 1a of the cup throughout its entire perimeter.

integrally molded with the padding 4 and forming an important feature of the present invention is an inwardly rolled flange or lip portion 4c which has an appreciable spacing or separation from wall portion 4a in order to. form a highly cushioned fit with the face por- Thus as the goggles are pulled, by headbands 6 and 7, toward the face of the wearer, the integral flange 4c and a corresponding integral flange on rubber padding 5 will flex and move toward wall portions, such as 40!, Without coming in contact therewith so as to provide an extremely comfortable fit because of considerably reduced contact pressure about the eyes of the wearer. In other words, the hard rim portion 1a of the goggle cup and sidewalls 4a and 4b are always kept separated by an air space from the cheeks and eye-surrounding portions of the face of the wearer to prevent the familiar discomfort in wear that exists when a rubber padded, solid rim portion is held directly against the face. Thus the goggles may be held tightly against the face in an air-tight manner without resulting discomfort even after long periods of wear.

In view of the specific flared outline of the eye cup rims, such as 1a, and in view of the very smooth surfaces of such rims, also in view of the tension of the rubber, there would normally be a tendency for the rubber paddings to slip off the rims. However, I have found that by making the rubber paddings 4 and 5 of friction-tight neoprene compound, they will have the characteristic of adhering to the contacting surfaces of the rims even when the paddings are placed under tension. In fact, paddings 4 and 5 may be placed under greater tension than normally possible and Without fear of slipping off the rims during wear.

It will be understood that the inner rolled flange 4c is separated by an air space from wall portion 4a throughout the entire perimeter of padding 4, and that the same condition prevails in padding 5.

The air space between wall 4a and flange 4c may be of the order of inch and the thickness of the flange 4c and wall 4!; may be about .06 inch, although it will be understood that these dimensions may be varied somewhat without materially altering the comfortable fit. The inner wall 4a is preferably made slightly thinner, such as .04 inch, to facilitate mounting and detachment, as well as to provide greater adherence to the goggle cup rim.

Since headband strips extend through slots 4d and Ed in the spaced flanges, such as 4c, the paddings are securely held in place at the outer portions of the eye cups.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided efficient, detachable rubber paddings for eye cups in a pair of industrial protective goggles, which paddings include integral flanges spaced from the sidewalls of the grooved portion of the paddings seating the goggle rims providing a very flexible connection and an amazingly comfortable fit with the cheeks and eye surrounding portions of the wearer enabling the goggle to be worn for long periods of time without attendant discomfort and without making skin impressions such as usually made by solid rubber paddings or foam rubber paddings; fure ma made offriction-tight rubber material so that the paddings may be placed under abnormal tension to provide tighter fit with the goggle rims but without the danger of slipping off during wear. I

While I- have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, itwill be understood that this is by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope o-fithe following claim.

I claim:

In a pair of goggles for industrial safety comprising a pair of separate goggle cups interconnected by a bridge, a pair of paddings for covering the mouth portions 'of said: cups, said paddings being'of friction-tight rubber and being in the form of closed loops, each loop having a groove into which the rim of the goggle cup mouth portion is tightly fitted and constituting the sole means for attaching the padding to the'mouth portion, each padding having an integrally molded flange emanating 20 from the central portion of the base of 1 the groove and extending in spaced, substantially parallel relationship with the inner, groove-forming wall. of the, padding and in substantially spaced relationship with said wall for providing a highly cushioned fit with the eye-surrounding portions of the wearer, and slits provided in the temple-adjoining portions of said paddings through which the end portions of a headband, may be extended.

R fer n es t d e e of, this, Pa e t NIT D.' TES A EN Sv 996,135 ee, Jun 27, 1911 1,478,818 Cover i Dec. 25, 1923 4 .WI h QQ Q??- 23 1923 1,741,427 Meyrow itz V Dec. 31, 1929 1,850,538 Dickson I Mar. 22, 1932 2,139,811 Dockson et a1. Dec. 13, 1938 2,648,843 Hirschmann Aug. 18, 1953 R IGN. P EN s 773,071 France Aug. 25, 1934 

